From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
material
adj 1: concerned with worldly rather than spiritual interests;
"material possessions"; "material wealth"; "material
comforts"
2: derived from or composed of matter; "the material universe"
[ant: immaterial]
3: directly relevant to a matter especially a law case; "his
support made a material difference"; "evidence material to
the issue at hand"; "facts likely to influence the
judgment are called material facts"; "a material witness"
[ant: immaterial]
4: concerned with or affecting physical as distinct from
intellectual or psychological well-being; "material
needs"; "the moral and material welfare of all good
citizens"- T.Roosevelt
5: having material or physical form or substance; "that which
is created is of necessity corporeal and visible and
tangible" - Benjamin Jowett [syn: corporeal] [ant:
incorporeal]
6: having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not
imaginary; "the substantial world"; "a mere dream, neither
substantial nor practical"; "most ponderous and
substantial things"- Shakespeare [syn: substantial,
real] [ant: insubstantial]
n 1: the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a
physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat
is the stuff they use to make bread" [syn: stuff]
2: information (data or ideas or observations) that can be used
or reworked into a finished form; "the archives provided
rich material for a definitive biography"
3: things needed for doing or making something; "writing
materials"; "useful teaching materials"
4: artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or
crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the
curtains was light and semitraqnsparent"; "woven cloth
originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured
off enough material for a dress" [syn: fabric, cloth,
textile]
5: a person judged suitable for admission or employment; "he
was university material"; "she was vice-presidential
material"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, n.
The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be
made.
[1913 Webster]
Raw material, any crude, unfinished, or elementary
materials that are adapted to use only by processes of
skilled labor. Cotton, wool, ore, logs, etc., are raw
material.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, a. [L. materialis, fr. materia stuff,
matter: cf. F. mat['e]riel. See Matter, and cf.
{Mat['e]riel}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical;
as, material substance or bodies.
[1913 Webster]
The material elements of the universe. --Whewell.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence: Pertaining to, or affecting, the physical nature of
man, as distinguished from the mental or moral nature;
relating to the bodily wants, interests, and comforts; as,
material well-being; material comforts.
[1913 Webster]
3. Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of
consequence; not be dispensed with; important;
significant.
[1913 Webster]
Discourse, which was always material, never
trifling. --Evelyn.
[1913 Webster]
I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down
only such as are most material to our present
purpose. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Logic.) Pertaining to the matter, as opposed to the form,
of a thing. See Matter.
[1913 Webster]
Material cause. See under Cause.
Material evidence (Law), evidence which conduces to the
proof or disproof of a relevant hypothesis. --Wharton.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Corporeal; bodily; important; weighty; momentous;
essential.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, v. t.
To form from matter; to materialize. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
[1913 Webster]